Obama’s Nixonian view of War Powers Act: Ignore it

Richard Nixon took a more expansive view of his powers than any other president. “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” he told David Frost in that famous 1977 interview.

Until now. Barack Obama has a distinctly Nixonian view of the law. If it gets in his way, he ignores it.

The War Powers Act, which Congress passed in 1973 over President Nixon’s veto, says if Congress doesn’t approve the mission within 90 days after troops have been committed to “hostilities,” they must be withdrawn.

The 90 days on Libya ran out last Sunday (6/19). Mr. Obama said the War Powers Act doesn’t apply. No American boots are on the ground, so U.S. involvement doesn’t rise to the level of “hostilities.”

“Since the United States handed control of the air war in Libya to NATO in early April, American warplanes have struck at Libyan air defenses 60 times, and remotely operated drones have fired missiles at Libyan forces about 30 times,” the New York Times reported.

And U.S. troops assigned to the Libya mission draw “imminent danger” pay. Seems hostile to me.

“By Obama’s lights, President Nixon’s air campaign over Cambodia — the very kind of operation at which the WPR was aimed — would not count as ‘hostilities,’” said national security law expert John Yoo.

The top lawyers at Justice and Defense told Mr. Obama the War Powers Act applies to Libya, but he ignored them.

“The White House bypassed the administration’s own written guidelines for resolving major legal disputes,” reported Michael Isikoff of NBC.

This is not the first time this administration has flouted the law.

Congress wouldn’t pass the partial amnesty for illegal aliens Mr. Obama wanted. So he told Immigration and Customs Enforcement not to enforce the law if illegals were attending school, or have relatives in the U.S. military.

Cochise County (Arizona) Sheriff Larry Dever said U.S. Border Patrol officials told him they are under orders to reduce arrests of illegals caught trying to sneak across the border.

The Justice Department will not prosecute violations of the Voting Rights Act if the victims are white, the former chief of the Voting Section told the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Justice also has decided not to enforce the provisions in the National Voter Registration Act (motor voter) which guard against voter fraud, Christopher Coates testified.

Treasury broke the law when it exempted General Motors from taxes other businesses similarly situated must pay, said tax law professor Paul Caron.

There was no legal or economic justification for what Treasury did, which “had the potential to transfer significant wealth to loyal supporters (the UAW),” Mr. Caron said.

A federal judge held the Interior department in contempt for continuing to enforce a moratorium on oil drilling after he ruled Interior had no right to do so.

What Mr. Obama said is “the most open and transparent administration in history” repeatedly has stonewalled efforts by Congress to obtain documents it has a legal right to see, most recently in the Gunwalker scandal.

Scofflaw behavior began early, when President Obama ignored bankruptcy law to give to the United Auto Workers money that belonged to Chrysler’s bondholders. To set aside basic property rights to reward a political ally is “gangster government,” Michael Barone wrote at the time.

The thousands of Obamacare waivers granted by the Department of Health and Human Services despite having no legal authority to do so is the most dangerous example of gangster government.

Waiver granting on this scale undermines the rule of law, the free enterprise system, and our liberty, said law professor Richard Epstein. “When currying the favor of capricious government officials is required for a person’s well being or a firm’s very existence, government abuse becomes nearly impossible to oppose” he said.

The power to exempt some, but not others, from the law was claimed by kings who said they ruled by divine right, not popular will. Mindful of this, our Founding Fathers denied this power to the president, said law professor Philip Hamburger.

I noted at the top similarities between Barack Obama and Richard Nixon. But the political figure Mr. Obama more closely resembles in attitude (though not in accomplishment) is Louis XIV (1638-1715), who told the French parliament: “l’ etat, c’est moi.” (I am the state.)